Young poets adapt ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to tell story of Richmond gang violence

The story of Romeo and Juliet: It’s an archetype that’s as old as the ancient Romans and the tale of “Pyramus and Thisbe,” whose defiance of a bitter family feud for love cost them their lives. In the 1500s, William Shakespeare borrowed from the myth, turning the story into his classic play that’s been retold and reimagined across settings and media, from Broadway’s “West Side Story” to Hollywood blockbuster “Romeo Must Die.”

In Richmond this fall, a group of poets are putting their own spin on the tragedy.

Richmond Artists With Talent, part of Richmond’s Making Waves Education Program, call their adaptation “Te’s Harmony” – a new take on the text that mixes modern language, Shakespearean verse and spoken-word poetry, said Molly Raynor, RAW Talent founder and coordinator.

Here, the star-crossed lovers – Te (Romeo) and Harmony (Juliet) – find themselves not in the midst of a Montague-Capulet-esque feud, but in the violent North versus Central Richmond gang rivalry. “Te’s Harmony,” directed by Rooben Morgan, is RAW Talent’s first attempt at a full-fledged play, but students in the poetry group are already calling it a masterpiece.